Old Friends and a Scare

Since we have lived most of our lives near Denver, when we return we always make an effort to see old friends and some family that live here.

While we were staying in St. Vrain State Park near Longmont, we met our friend Betty for lunch at Goodfellers restaurant in Longmont. Betty's husband, Larry, was on the Boulder Police Department at the same time John was.  He died in March, so it was important to spend time with her.

As you can see, we were seated outside.  A relatively safe way to meet people during this Covid 19 pandemic.  The wind was blowing briskly that day and just as we were leaving the restaurant, the umbrella you see in this photo blew off and tumbled across the outdoor dining area.  Thankfully, no one was injured.

Another day we drove to The Back Porch Cafe in Fort Collins to have lunch with John's sister Cindy.  We had a good visit--and nothing blew away that day.

While out walking our last morning at St. Vrain, we ran into friends Bob and Lindsey.  They were members of St. Gabriel's in Cherry Hills Village when John was rector there.  This is the third time we have just happened to be camping the same place as they were.

After leaving St. Vrain, we moved to Chatfield State Park on the southwest corner of the Denver metro area.  We will be here for 2 weeks.  On our first morning, I noticed a park ranger truck on the road next to our RV with its flashing red lights.  Before I could say anything, someone pounded--very loudly--on our front door.  John opened the door and was told "Evacuate, Evacuate."  I looked out the window and saw smoke.  John turned off our propane tanks and I picked up our computer and two iPads and we hurried to the truck and drove across the road to the group camping area.  This is what we saw as we looked back at our campground loop.

We were watching for several minutes before trucks from South Metro Fire Rescue arrived at the scene.  If you click on the image below, you can see one of the trees in flames.

A couple  of the younger campers had grabbed a bucket and shovel and were going to help fight the fire, but the fire department arrived to do the work.

This is the location of the fire--just across the camp loop road and one space to the southeast of us.  We are glad they put the fire out before any RVs were damaged or people injured.

We will have quality time with our son Eric and his family and with other friends during our time here in the Denver area.  We just hope there aren't any more dramatic events like airborne umbrellas or fires to spice up our lives.

Time With Family and Friends

Chatfield State Park is always on our route through the Denver area. It is just a few miles from the home we lived in till we went on the road full-time and it is only a few minutes away from our son Eric's home. Another reason to spend time here this summer was so we could attend a 50th anniversary party for our long-time friends Larry and Betty. Two years ago they came to our 50th and we wanted to celebrate with them when it was their turn. We drove to Boulder where Larry and John were both members of the Boulder Police Department in the late 1960s and early 1970s. So many people never make it to 50 years of marriage and it is special to join in the party when a couple does that.

Here Betty is holding her 50th anniversary champagne glass, ready to respond to the group's toast to the couple.

Since we only see Eric's family 2 or 3 times a year, it is important to spend as much time as possible with them when we are here. They own a pontoon boat which they keep on the lake here at Chatfield during the summer. Liz was out of town but Eric and our grandchildren Kylie and John came out to see us. We cooked our dinner on the grill at the dock.

When we finished eating we all boarded the boat and Eric carefully backed it out of it's slip in the marina.

We enjoyed the ride across the lake.

But it wasn't long before the sky became dark and threatening.

Eric quickly turned the boat around and put the pedal to the metal so we couod get back to the dock before the storm hit.

After the boat was moored at the dock, we all pitched in to close the sides of the boat before the rain really drenched us.

We sat in the boat for nearly an hour while the rain came down. We talked and we shared some old photos in our Google Photos albums. When the rain ended we emerged, only slightly wet, and started for our trucks as the skies cleared. The storm was the typical Colorado afternoon weather pattern.

Where Did That Come From?

Where on earth did this really long screw come from?  We didn't know what the problem was but when John checked the trailer tires Thursday in preparation to drive to Chatfield State Park on Friday, he found that one of the tires only had 30 pounds pressure instead of the normal 65.  Oops!

We called our road service company, Coach-Net, and they sent out a tow truck from the nearby town of Berthoud to remove the low-pressure tire and put on the spare.

We were very impressed with the service.  Coach-Net called to tell us the truck would be there in 45 minutes.  The driver, Jake, called us when he was 10 minutes away.  And by the time he had started to work we received a call to be sure help had arrived.

John watched as Jake jacked up the trailer.

Once the tire was off, they inspected it to see if they could find the problem.

Yep, the screw pictured at the top of this post was imbedded deeply in the tire.  No wonder it was leaking air.  Jake put in a plug so the tire wouldn't leak and put it back on the trailer.  One of these days we will have the tire repaired even better, but hopefully this will hold till we return to Arizona.

We needed to get on the road Friday so we could see family in Littleton.  We shared adult beverages and chips and dip with our son Eric and his wife Liz and grandson John.  Kylie, our granddaughter is in Oregon swimming the in sectional meet.  We will see her next week.

A Lot of Fun, Too

Our two weeks here at Chatfield State Park has been very busy and very stressful. But we've had a lot of fun, too. One evening we boated on the lake here with Eric, Liz and John. We had lots of time to talk and they had a cake to celebrate my birthday the previous week.

We really enjoy our stays at Chatfield every year. We saw deer right near our campsite one day. Many mornings hot air ballons are launched in the park. One day we watched one balloon come down right next to a group or boy scout campers and another right on the road at the edge of the campground.

The 55th reunion of the South High School class of 1961 was held Saturday night. We had a good time at the dinner talking to Beverly and Bill Totten, Don Morgan and Kitty Bowman Hadji. Kitty lived across the street during my high school years but this was our first quality visit in years.





Chatfield has a model air plane field. During our first weekend here there was a "Warriors Over Denver" event. Only planes painted with military paint schemes and insignia could take part. Most were made to look like World War II planes with both American and Japanese insignia.

Grandson John has competed in two swim meets during our visit. We were able to attend both. His smile shows how happy he was after a great time in one of his free style events the first weekend. At the second meet I got this shot of him diving in at the beginning of the 50 free (I think) event and one of him in the water, so far ahead of the other swimmers. He was several lengths ahead of 2nd place and made another really good time.

For Father's Day yesterday, Liz prepared a great meal and they brought it to our campsite where Eric and John cooked the steaks. Kylie was wearing her new sunglasses. Aren't they cool?

Our last night we attended grandson John's Boy Scout Court of Honor.  He received three merit badges and moved from the rank of Scout from Webelo.  Each time a scout moves to a higher rank, he receives a pin and his parent--either mom or day--also recieves a pin.  John put the pin in his dad Eric's ribbon.  His sister Kylie was there to see it.  Mom Liz was out of town.  We are so proud of the work John is doing in Boy Scouts.



We worked hard during our stay at Chatfield but we also had a lot of fun.

More flooding

Colorado has had lots of rain and when we arrived at Chatfield State Park a week ago, the campground was accessible only from the east entrance to the park. But after the recent rains ended, the entire road through the park was open and we were able to drive to and from the west entrance yesterday, even though the water did encroach on the pavement.

This morning, however, when we drove toward that entrance, the road was flooded and closed. So this afternoon, we walked down to the flooded area to see what was going on.

Fences were under water and walking paths had become wading paths.









I don't think this sign means much today. Maybe near the end of the summer.

It wouldn't be a good idea to park here right now.

The Platte River was flowing across the road. It was probably about 24 inches deep where the road is at its lowest point. This bicyclist had ridden through the flowing water and said it was up to the top of his tires. He rested awhile on our side of the river, then turned around and rode to the other side. Another cyclist came up behind us, watched for a while and turned back the way he had come.

These people and dogs were having a good time in the water. It's amazing what some young and stupid people will do to have fun.  Even some who aren't that young, just stupid.  There was a current as the water crossed the road.  If someone had fallen off the roadway, they could have been washed quite a ways into the lake.  I hope they were good swimmers.